The Legal Status of Presidential Emergency Powers In 1976, Congress passed the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. §§ 1601-1651). It contains the following simple and straightforward language giving the President power to declare a national emergency: “With respect to acts of Congress authorizing the exercise, during the period of a national emergency, of any special or […]

The press pass privileges of CNN’s Jim Acosta were revoked following an encounter with a White House intern during a presidential press conference. The intern had attempted to take away a microphone from Acosta when the President had recognized another reporter for a question. Acosta resisted the intern’s efforts. There is video of the event […]

Since it’s all the rage, I took time to read the Carter Page FISA warrant applications. There’s a torrent of social media and cable news about what these documents prove. A great deal of the commentary starts with and seems to emphasize a particular fact that is technically true. The documents released consist of 412 […]

Investigating President Trump’s nomination for the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh brought back memories of law school and a nettlesome problem I observed in America. Here’s how I came to believe a Justice Kavanaugh will be good for America. As part of being on law review all members write a piece called a “note”. It’s […]

There’s a legal phrase that an appellate court uses to say a lower court failed to follow the law: ABUSE OF DISCRETION It’s the legal equivalent of “DUH”. In his majority opinion for the United States Supreme Court that upheld President Trump’s limitations on travel to the United States in the case of Hawaii v. […]

Our constitutional republic is predicated upon the rule of law. We stand to lose the republic and our freedoms when those who have been entrusted with power utilize that power, not for the public good, but rather for personal political gain. As we learn from the Declaration of Independence, “Governments are instituted among Men” to secure […]

It is not possible to find a single major media outlet that simply reports accurate facts without either subtle or overt effort to give a political story a “spin” that matches an editorial agenda whether it is liberal or conservative, pro-Trump or anti-Trump. There are rare chances to get real, accurate, original sources since most […]

On March 15, 2017, two federal judges ordered the executive branch of our government to not enforce an order issued by President Trump. The orders by these judges were without legal basis, and these theoretical guardians of the law acted with utter disregard for the law. The Background One week after taking office, on January […]

What happens when an attorney and a guy who’s not a lawyer with a history fighting in court on his own get together to create a legal self-help book? You get a book with an attitude. Think Mark Wahlberg in the courtroom. Authors Tom Scott and Sara Naheedy combine to bring the attitude and the […]

It is one thing to carry the Constitution in your pocket, or have a Constitution app on your smart phone. It is another thing to read it. It is yet another to study and understand the source of the Constitution’s philosophy, principles and purposes. While a pocket Constitution has become central to a presidential campaign […]

Cápsulas Informativas Constitucionales follows the tradition of informing citizens about the country’s founding documents in their native languages. In 1787, one third of Pennsylvania’s residents were German speakers. Accordingly, of the 4500 copies of the proposed Constitution that legislature ordered, 1500 were in German. Everyone understands important ideas best in their native language, and Cápsulas Informativas Constitucionales recognizes the importance of making available America's First Principles to 36,000,000 Americans.